


chaos of thoughts (Week 2 of 52 more stories)

by readergirl37



Series: 52 More Stories [1]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon What Canon, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, do not copy to another site, elejah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26890249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readergirl37/pseuds/readergirl37
Summary: Esther turns Elena into a Hunter with a spell. The Mikaelsons debate what to do about it.
Relationships: Elena Gilbert/Elijah Mikaelson
Series: 52 More Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1943929
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	chaos of thoughts (Week 2 of 52 more stories)

**Author's Note:**

> AN: This one didn't give me the prompt click feeling until I was rewatching True Blood and heard this: "And yet you treat her like a child does a dragonfly. Pulling off wings for sport. No wonder they hate us."  
> The prompt for this chapter is:  
> The sea of emotion swelled, drowning him in the chaos of his thoughts.  
> These prompts are by sdavid09 . tumblr com and I'm writing these with her permission to use the prompts.
> 
> This series would not have started without the lovely @terapsina, who has Elejah fics here on ao3! Go give her some love and reviews!
> 
> I also got a request to change my formatting so please let me know if you guys like or dislike this formatting and what you think of the fic!

Rebekah rolls her eyes at their indecision. Elijah has tried so hard to keep the doppelganger for his _honor_ and Klaus wants her to be his hybrid making machine, due to make another doppelganger with time.

Kol is more than willing to snap her neck and she's ready to rip the doppelganger's heart out, drink her blood, something, anything. She was stabbed by the doppelganger this morning and yet no one seems concerned.

Their living room isn't a serious enough place for this conversation however, her brothers seem cemented to their seats. She is the only one standing, tapping her shoe against the overpriced wood Nik picked out.

"She isn't worth saving. Mother sent her to try and kill us. We should do what we've always done and kill her first," Rebekah groans.

Elijah sends her a look sharp enough to cut through bone. She should have done it this morning but she fled first, worried Esther might have attempted to link them again. She's the only one taking this as seriously as the situation demands.

"There could be another way to save her," he reminds her. Rebekah sighs, catching Klaus's eye.

"I agree with Elijah. We should exhaust all other options before we kill the doppelganger," Klaus says. Rebekah doesn't miss the way Elijah grits his teeth at that, tension ticking in his jaw. Elena Gilbert is just a human girl.

They've all killed humans in their long lives, just because this one looks like Tatia and Katherine should make no difference to Elijah, and he is hesitating. He's always had a weakness for the Petrova doppelgangers.

Kol is on his phone, sprawled on the couch, ignoring the conversation around him but she's tired of this. In the short time, he's been back, their mother has come back and their existence has been constantly threatened in what can barely be described as _civilization_.

Mystic Falls is a dead end and she would have even settled for taking the doppelganger with them for a blood source as they moved to somewhere civilized. Her patience for this ridiculousness wears thin. Klaus and Elijah are acting like fools but one of them needs to have some common sense here. The voice of reason won't be Kol, intently looking at his screen.

"Don't you think if anyone would've found a magical loophole by now it would have been her witch friend? I'm sure she's keen on not seeing her friend die permanently. We should be more concerned with luring her out and ending this. She's a Hunter now," Rebekah snaps.

"A hunter who knows where we reside who hasn't bothered coming after any of us, other than stabbing you in the side," Kol comments dryly.

Elijah thinks of the way Finn caught him kissing Elena the night of the ball. Of course, she was going to tell him the truth of Esther's plans. Finn was too quick in his escape and he must have cornered Elena another day. Everything was fine just two weeks ago. Now his siblings are debating killing the woman he loves.

"I need some air," he announces to the room.

Klaus mumbles something about keeping an eye out while Rebekah scowls. Getting rid of his mother and Finn will be much easier emotionally, but _Elena._ Lovely, cunning Elena.

He didn't plan on putting any roots into Mystic Falls- they got caught on each other.

After she undaggered him, they talked for hours before she returned to the Salvatores. She'd kissed him before they'd returned to find the brothers fighting.

There are only a few wispy clouds in the sky, the temperature lends itself well to wearing a suit, and the birds are chirping at each other. It'd be perfect if Elena was next to him, but she isn't. The day's perfection is neither noticed nor appreciated.

He finds himself wandering the town, almost unaware of the people he's passing. Street lights and families passing by unaware of the end of the world for a race of beings they're unaware of. Rebekah was thankfully attacked in private and he wonders about Elena's mental state.

Perhaps he can get through to her. Rebekah didn't mention Elena's mental state, just that she was stabbed with a piece of metal. Not white oak, though his mother could have attempted to supply her with means to kill them.

Elena's loved ones likely don't have an issue with his family being exterminated. The woman they all loved is likely gone now. His mother's cruel enough, if Elena kills them, she'll likely die after her work is completed.

If all vampires are gone, there is no need for a vampire hunter, after all. He wants to be optimistic and think he can pull her back from what his mother did-but it's unlikely.

They had their second date in that bakery across the street. Elijah didn't miss the way the woman at the counter looked at them before she started texting away, a peer of Elena's perhaps. Elena hadn't paid her much attention as they debated the best ways to split the desserts between them. Her eyes were warmer than the pie that just came out of the oven and the first time he'd held her hand.

He wants to tell himself that he couldn't have done anything differently to prevent Elena's fate. The pull they both felt-he could have dismissed it for her sake. He can't renounce all of his actions. He reached her before Klaus did and had a plan to save her life-before Damon force-fed her his blood.

Maybe his presence in Elena's life has changed nothing. All of his lovers have met gruesome ends, by Klaus's hand or because of their connection to him. He's indirectly ripping wings off butterflies for momentary joy. His mind is a whirlwind of thoughts but he is not so deep in thought that he misses the woman walking to him.

A familiar, human heartbeat greets his ears.

It's easy enough to restrain Elena out of sight, against a wall, but she's unfocused. Her hands still fidget but her eyes look the way they did a week ago when they were waking up in her bed. Soft and fond, just for him. They're secluded enough, he doubts anyone will stumble on them in the next few minutes.

"You need to kill me," she tells him. One of her wrists wiggles against his hands. Maybe she wants to reach for him again like she has a few times-to stroke his jaw, to pull him close, to press her forehead against his.

Not enough, never enough, she is ending much too soon.

"You attacked Rebekah earlier," he replies. The truth is too heavy for this bubble Elijah wants to keep them in for just a few more minutes.

"Only maimed. A little stab," Elena reminds him. The needle she used is empty now, in a trash can near the town square. No permanent harm done.

"I've been trying to fight the Hunter instincts. I want this to stop," Elena tells him. He raises an eyebrow, unsure of what she's implying. He wants to be wrong and he wants her to tell him that.

"Come on. I can't fight this forever. Please don't make me," Elena pleads. He wants to rest his forehead against hers, but she might try to headbutt him. His heart aches in his chest.

Esther's magic might have turned her into someone who can hunt his family-she is fighting it. It's still not enough.

He loathes the fact she has to battle it and there are too many questions to ask.

So many things left unsaid between them. She shouldn't die here-Elena deserved to grow old.

"How do you want me to-" he trails off.

"Snap my neck and keep my body safe," she murmurs. Elijah shifts both of her wrists into one of his hands as he reaches for her neck. She jerks from the motion, but his hand rests against her cheek. It's a familiar gesture she can't lean into.

"I wish we had more time," he murmurs.

"We might," she tells him cryptically. She meets his gaze and she seems perfectly herself for a moment.

"I love you. Always and forever," she vows.

"I love you too. Always and forever," he echoes.

She blinks at him one last time before closing her eyes. He doesn't have to ask her to-his heart fragments like a grenade in his chest. He is many things but he's not sure he'd be strong enough for that.

"It's okay," she promises. The sound echoes in his head as she goes limp.

He doesn't let his face move for a moment before a sob escapes his lips and he scoops her into his arms. Vampire speed proves useful in not being spotted. This isn't the first time he's held her like this but it could be the last.

Her house is blissfully empty. Her loved ones are likely strategizing at the Boarding House, thinking they can still save her. He sets her down as if she was made of crystal. If he was naive, he could almost believe she's sleeping on top of her comforter.

The Gilbert house is never technically silent, he can hear the buzz of electricity, the quiet groans of the shifting wood, the air conditioner humming, and usually, the heartbeats. The absence of Elena's is deafening.

He could tell his siblings that the threat is over, that the cost was too high. Elena has suffered too much because of his family. He will rip Niklaus's hands off before he lets him try to steal the last of the blood in Elena's veins for his hybrids. No one will get close enough to desecrate her body, he will defend her in death as he did in life.

 _You failed at that,_ he thinks.

The sea of emotion swells, drowning him in the chaos of his thoughts. He is weak and foolish. Too sentimental and emotional for his siblings' liking. Elijah reaches for her hand and holds it. There were so many hours they could sit in silence, just holding hands, touching in some way, her head on his shoulder, quiet affection.

His mind is blank. All of his plans and dreams are mere ruins now. He should call someone. Esther and Finn are likely still alive. The possibility of finding a witch and becoming unbound from his line is tempting. He could join Elena without innocent lives lost, buried in the ground at the same time. His siblings might fight him on it-there is no fight left in him.

They might not recognize the empty thing he is now, not a man, just grief with form. The sky darkens outside and he listens to the sounds of the Gilbert home-as if his attention could cause her pulse to return.

His hand remains in hers even as his phone rings. The calls go unanswered, he cannot find it in himself to move. Answering the phone means accepting what he cannot. There will need to be funeral arrangements. Elena will be buried in the ground.

His breathing stops as he hears her breathe again, fingers twitching against his.

"Elena?" he whispers. She inhales and blinks.

"I'm back," she whispers, sitting up to look at him. He doesn't give her much of a chance before trapping her in a tight embrace.

"How?" he asks. He needs to question the miracle, ensure this isn't a dream, a hallucination, that she didn't bring him to a version of hell or heaven.

"I took some of Rebekah's blood this morning. Knew one of you would come after me after I did that. I didn't expect to just bump into you," she grins. There are too many questions crowding his mind.

"And you feel fine?" he inquires. He pulls away to look at her fully.

"My head is clear again. Nothing in my head but me," she assures him.

"Do you regret it?" he asks. Elena bites her lip.

"I regret that I had to ask you to go through that. I don't regret beginning to transition. If I can't be human without trying to kill you, then I'll be a vampire," Elena shrugs.

"But-" he begins.

"I don't want a normal human life and I don't want children if it means it'll lead to another doppelganger," she explains. He blinks, surprise coloring his face. Their phones ring at the same time and they know whatever comes next, they'll face it together.


End file.
